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BEAR ALLEY BOOKS

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Another break from the artwork of Mike Whittlesea in order to take a look at a couple of other artists' contributions, namely C. L. Doughty, still very active in the late 1970s despite reaching retirement age, and Oliver Frey, whose finest contribution to Speed & Power was a comic strip – the fabulous 'S.O.S. International' – which ran for seven months in 1975.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

For anyone still following our trip through Speed & Power's science fiction reprints, not all were illustrated by Michael Whittlesea. Today's examples are by Graham Coton. Back to Mike Whittlesea tomorrow.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Born in London on 6 June 1938, Michael Whitlesea was educated at Harrow School of art before beginning a career in publishing.

Whittlesea was a regular book cover artist in the 1960s and 1970s
working for Heinemann, Newnes, Young World, Macdonald and Oxford
University Press amongst others. He was one of the artists who illustrated Malcolm Saville's stories, beginning with Dark Danger (Heinemann, 1965) before going on to illustrate a number of Lone Pine adventures for Newnes and Merlin.

He was a regular contributor to World of Wonder and Speed and Power
in the 1970s, for the latter producing a series of stunning paintings
based on the science fiction stories of Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac
Asimov in 1974-75. In the early 1980s, he illustrated the Make Science Magic series for Purnell.

Although he was painting whilst working commercially, he did not begin
exhibiting until 1985 when his work appeared in the Royal Academy Summer
Exhibition. In that same year he was elected a member of both the Royal
Society of Painters in Watercolour and the New English Art Club, and
won the Painter Stainers Award. In 1989 he was Ken Howard's Artist of
Choice for an exhibition at the Art's Club, Dover Street, London and Tom
Coates' Choice at the Mall Gallery in 1991. In 1991 he was a
prize-winner at the Singer/Friedland/Sunday Times Watercolour
Exhibition, where he had been selected on a number of occasions. In 1998
he was commissioned to paint the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship.

Many further exhibitions have followed at the Royal Academy, Bankside
Gallery, Mall Gallery, Langham Fine Art, Alresford Gallery, Royal West
of England Academy, Royal College of Art, Chelsea Arts Club, Richard
Hagen Gallery, Lennox Gallery and RONA Gallery.

In 2002, he won the Jans Ondaatje Rolls Award for Drawing at the NEAC Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London.

Whittlesea has also written two books: The Complete Book of Drawing (Michael Beazley, 1983; reprinted in 1992 as The Complete Step-by-Step Drawing Course) and The Complete Watercolour Course (Windward, 1987; reprinted in 1992 as The Complete Step-by-Step Watercolour Course).

He has said of his work: "I use oil or watercolours for painting and
pastels and charcoal to draw. I work on primed canvas or good
watercolour paper using a variety of hog hair and sable brushes. I have
a very traditional way of working. I often work on 6 or more paintings
at a time and I draw regularly and work from paintings. Drawings can
be around for years before I think of using them in a painting...

"I still find painting a very difficult activity. Its unpredictable. At
the start of each day. I am not sure that anything good will result and
I have given up on achieving a style. Whatever develop, happens. There
is no clear idea or vision of how a picture will look."

In 2010, his work was chosen to be part of an exhibition to mark the 300th anniversary of St. Pauls.

BEAR ALLEY BOOKS

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